Anatomic Therapy

90. THE FOOD WE EAT SHOULD CONTAIN ALL THE SIX TASTES

Observe the food that we normally eat. It will have salt, sour and pungent tastes. But, generally we do not add sweet, bitter and astringent tastes in our food. We have already seen that there is a connection between each taste and an internal organ, an external organ and an emotion. If a person eats food having only salt, sour and pungent tastes, the organs connected with these three tastes only will function well in that person’s body. Since he or she is not eating the sweet, bitter and astringent tastes, the liver and spleen which depend on sweet taste, the heart, the outer cover of the heart, temperature control organ and small intestine which depend on bitter and astringent tastes will not function properly.

The food we eat goes to the stomach first and it remains there for about an hour. Since we do not eat sweet taste, stomach will not get the energy needed and so it will not digest the food properly. The next digestive organ is small intestine. Since it does not get energy from bitter and astringent tastes, it will also not digest the food properly. Thus, because we do not eat sweet, bitter and astringent tastes, the digestive power will be less in our body.

Till recently, people used to eat sweet taste liberally. But, as per the wrong advice given by the doctors that sugar disease (diabetes) will come if we eat sweets, we do not add sweet taste to our food nowadays.

We have clearly understood when we discussed about sugar disease that there is no connection between sweet taste and sugar. So, please add sweet taste liberally in your food.

People generally do not like bitter and astringent tastes and so they do not eat them. Bitter and astringent tastes are very much essential for proper digestion of food in our body.

Therefore, from now on, by adding all the six tastes namely sweet, salt, pungent, sour, bitter and astringent tastes in every course of food that we eat, we can increase our digestive power and we can convert our food into medicine.

In some countries, people eat only sweet, bitter and astringent tastes in their food and they do not add salt, sour and pungent tastes. In some other countries, such as India, people eat only salt, sour and hot tastes and they do not add sweet, bitter and astringent tastes.

Thus, people in different countries eat some tastes and do not eat some tastes. This is the basic reason for diseases. Therefore, we should try to eat food containing all the six tastes in each and every course of food that we eat.

Already the food that we eat contains salt, sour and hot tastes. For sweet taste, we can take any sweet dish or any sweet-tasting fruit. But we should never use the poison namely white sugar which is also called refined sugar. Also, we should never add any dish made using white sugar in our food. Instead of white sugar, we can eat jaggery, palm sugar, honey and all types of fruits. So, by adding sweet taste in the food, we can help improving the digestion.

Generally we do not add bitter and astringent tastes in our food. Bitter and astringent tastes strengthen our heart and also give us confidence and boldness. Also, they streamline the blood pressure and cure all the diseases in our body. So, let us add bitter and astringent tastes in our food from now on.

An easy way to add bitter taste is to eat bitter gourd curry twice every week. But we should not fry bitter gourd. We should boil it and eat it. Why do all doctors keep saying that we should eat spinach? It is because all varieties of spinach contain bitter and astringent tastes.

You need not search for separate items for bitter and astringent tastes. All items having bitter taste will have astringent taste also. Similarly, bitter taste also will be present in all items having astringent taste. So, we should eat spinach as far as possible.

There are several items having bitter taste such as turkey berry, bitter gourd chips, citron fruit pickle, a piece of lemon, the skin of lemon fruit, Neem leaves, Neem flower, etc. We can add any of these things in our food. If we do not get any of these items, we can add fenugreek or fenugreek powder and it will give a lot of bitter and astringent taste to our tongue. But, add fenugreek only in a small quantity. We should not eat fenugreek in large quantity.

In old movies about kings you would have seen scenes where one person asks the other, “How was the feast?” and the other replies, ‘Excellent! I ate six-taste food!” Our forefathers understood that eating “sixtaste” food is healthy and they drove away all the diseases by eating six-taste food. But today we are avoiding many of the tastes and as a result we are welcoming all the diseases into our body.

Therefore, please ensure that all the six tastes are present in each and every course of food that you eat and try to add the taste which is not present in the food. At the end of this book you will find lists of items that contain the six tastes. By including any of these items in the dishes you eat, you can have all the six tastes in your food.

After learning about this, many people have started eating six taste food. But sometimes we may not be able to get sixtaste food. In case we do not get six-taste food, if we eat feeling bad that we could not get six-taste food or if we think that the food will not get digested because we did not eat six-taste food, then that food will not get digested properly.

We eat thrice daily and thus we eat about ninety times in a month. To start with, try to eat six-taste food at least ten times in a month. Even if you cannot eat six-taste food at all times, try to eat it as frequently as possible. Even if you cannot get it on one day, instead of eating with a worry that you could not eat it, if you happily eat whatever is available, you can be healthy.

Our forefathers have said that if we eat one gooseberry in every meal, we will not get any disease. The reason behind this statement is the fact that gooseberry has all the six tastes in it. So, if it is possible, we can add one gooseberry in every meal. But, if we eat gooseberry in every course of food, sometimes our tongue will not find it tasty. So, we can eat gooseberry every alternate day.

Tender coconut water has all the six tastes. We should not drink tender coconut water using a straw. When we put our mouth on the tender coconut, enjoy the taste and drink it, the six tastes go through the tongue into our body and act as medicine.

Some people who have learnt our treatment of eating six-taste food have wrongly understood that six-taste powder should be consumed. If any of you buy any six-taste powder and eat it, it will not give any positive results. Only if the food that we eat daily contains the six tastes it will give good health to our body. Therefore, please understand that the food that we eat should contain six tastes and please do not use any artificially prepared six-taste powders sold in the market.

Thus, by ensuring that all the six tastes are present in our food and by eating sixtaste food every time, we can get the food digested well.